Liverpool Fc @ Anfield - Reds Supporters Gatherings

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LIVE MATCH REPORT

vs portsmouth:

Reina
Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Insua
Maxi, Aqualani, MArcherano, Babel
Gerrard, Torres

26th min: 1-0. A gift from Pompey GK. Gerrard charged down GK clearance and Maxi rolled the ball across for Torres to score into an empty goal..

29th min: 2-0. Babel scored off a pass by Torres.

32th min: 3-0. Aqualani scored. Torres backheeled the ball to Gerrard who flicked it to Aqualani who score with his left foot. What a goal!!

34th min: Torres hit post. Brilliant work! Gerrard missed an close range chance.. Players are full of confidence now.. PLenty of flicks, nice one-two passing...

HALF-TIME

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SECOND HALF

52th min: A Gerrard shot was brilliantly saved after nice link up play by our forwards. Followed by a Babel shot canon off the crossbar off a Gerrard square ball.

54th min: A Gerrard shot off target after a ball from the left by Babel. A rare confidence attacking display by our team this season.

55th min: A fantastic single hand save by Reina. Wat a match it has become!!

67th min: A clear penalty denied!! Johnson was brought down when the defender made no contact with the ball at all.. Wat's new?!!

70th min: Johnson replaced. Rafa giving young RB Martin Kelly some playing time.

74th min: Gerrard replaced by Benayoun.

77th min: GOAL by Torres. A "Alonso pass" by Aqualani found Torres at the left of the box, Torres cut in and scored with his right foot. El Nino is back!!

80th min: Torres replaced by Ngog.

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89th min: 4-1. Portsmouth scored. A soft goal to give away. Both full backs shall have done better. This showed tat Kelly still has much to learn, but tat's exactly why he's given a run out to gain some experience and hope he'll learn.

FULL TIME : 4-1

Overall, a rare confidence and positive display by us these days. Thou it's against the last placed team at home, and it's the easiest game left on the fixtures, tat's nothing to get too excited with. But it's still a good morale boaster. Hope we'll carry on such confidence to the next game at Man U next week. And if we play like this agst Lille, we have a good chance to overturn the 1-0 deficit.

Rare start by Babel and Aqualani. Both played very well and with a goal to show each. Babel's play is not as one-dimensional as previous, he's even helping out in defense too. And Aqualani impressed too, maybe becos Portsmouth midfield give him more space to play with, he is linking up very well with Gerrard, Torres in the final third of the field. Guess tat's where he played in Roma. Nevertheless, hope we'll see more of these from him..

Another player I like to single out is Maxi, he is neither a very fast nor flashy winger, but he is a very smart player who always aware of his team mates position..

[Cum_Luver]

hopefully,we can continue this fine form till end of season.
surely we will be able to overcome the 1st leg deficit and proceed to the next stage of Europa League,this coming Friday.

and not to forget the coming match against Man Utd.

[rahl]

Good to hear the result and performance. For AA, he needs good support from his teammates, particularly the wings and strikers so the play gets pulled wide and he gets space to play.

Dare we hope for a new dawn from Babel? To be fair, he is now starting games on merit.

[ProfessorOokami]

Originally Posted by Cum_Luver

hopefully,we can continue this fine form till end of season.
surely we will be able to overcome the 1st leg deficit and proceed to the next stage of Europa League,this coming Friday.

and not to forget the coming match against Man Utd.

We won comfortably because that jinx Lucas was not played

[sex crusader]

Couldn't have agreed more!

[asspanker]

getting into a groove for the upcoming big matches.. nice goals btw

[too_hot]

What i found surprising was that the commentators that nite (not the studio ones) were saying the first XI that started against Pompey was liverpool's best team. How can that be when both Kuyt and Benayoun were on the bench? Babel is deifnitely not first team quality right now. And as far as i m concerned, jury still out on AA and Maxi.

[ProfessorOokami]

Originally Posted by too_hot

What i found surprising was that the commentators that nite (not the studio ones) were saying the first XI that started against Pompey was liverpool's best team. How can that be when both Kuyt and Benayoun were on the bench? Babel is deifnitely not first team quality right now. And as far as i m concerned, jury still out on AA and Maxi.

I also overhead that they were surprised that Ben did not start or play LUCAS??

[owen10]

Gerrard to escape FA punishment

Gerrard to escape FA punishment - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet

GREAT NEWS for Pool!!!

What a morale booster to have captain marvel in the team to face scums!!!

To be frank, i was quite pessimistic that SG would be slapped with a 3 match ban. Luckily the ref n FA are Pool (or anti MU?) fans!!!

[bochapsing]

team for tonite match vs lille:

riena
johnson, agger, carragher, insua
macherano,lucas --- aquilani is struggling with sickness..WTF!!
kyut,gerrard,babel --- maxi is cup-tied.
torres

too bad tat we'll have to change a winning team. hope benayoun will play behind torres with gerrad drop back to partner macherano, as we need to break down a lille team who will be looking to protect their lead and try to strike us with counter. but benayoun has not been in good form recently too.

but knowing rafa, won't be surprise if he comes up with a 3-5-2 formation with 3 centre back and 2 overlapping full backs, or a more traditional 4-4-2...

well.. any formation which can get us a 2-goal victory will do...!!

[bochapsing]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=757508&sec=england&cc=4716

look like riera's liverpool career is coming to an end....

u should nvr come out and attack ur manager or club when ur team is going thru a mini-crisis...!!!

[Xgenre]

Originally Posted by bochapsing

u should nvr come out and attack ur manager or club when ur team is going thru a mini-crisis...!!!

Why not? Look at what Babel's Twitter rants got him. A regular starting place. If I were Riera, I will follow suit too. This is Riera's last World Cup and with Spain being one of the favourites, he has every right to want to be in the squad. Don't have to be first 18 also can get winner's medal if they win.

I'm not so concerned about his outburst. I'm more concerned with the content of his outburst. If it's indeed true that Rafa isn't speaking to his players, it's very worrying.

[bochapsing]

He was quoted as saying on Radio Marca: "When the coach says nothing to you and you are well, with no physical problems and training well, you cannot help but think it must be something personal.

"I've been here two years and I know how he (Benitez) is. He's never sorted out a situation with a player by talking with him. He thinks he's in charge and everything else falls on deaf ears. His dialogue with the players is practically nil," added the 27-year-old, who also likened Liverpool to a "sinking ship".

i dun think rafa can tolerate such outburst lo.. consider tat the bad timing of his outburst, it comes after a morale booasting victory and before 2 crucial matches... and the attack is a bit too personal (even it's true), compared to benayoun and babel's outbursts..

to be fair to babel, he's in the first team on merit, he has improved in last few matches he played in.. guess riera has a mountain to climb to get into the liverpool and spain team now..

but to think positively, hope he can do a benayoun or babel and put on some match winning performance if he ever be chosen again tis season...